L and A's First Photo Gallery

The result when my camera is left in the hands of my sweet - and surprisingly talented - five-year-old niece and three-year-old nephew:

Trust

I have been listening to both old and new broadcasts of General Conference this week, while taking care of things around the house. I just listened to one by an apostle of Jesus Christ, namely Henry B. Eyring. This part motivated me to act more quickly on the inspiration I receive:

If you trust God enough to listen for His message in every sermon, song, and prayer in this conference, you will find it. And if you then go and do what He would have you do, your power to trust Him will grow, and in time you will be overwhelmed with gratitude to find that He has come to trust you.

What a thought! That the very God of heaven and earth, the creator of all living, the Father of all mankind could trust me! Wow. What an honor worth acting upon.

I'm doing my best. In the last few months there have been many, many moments to act upon inspiration. Some I have acted upon quickly, some I have eventually gotten to, and other thoughts I ignored and missed a great opportunity. With the success comes confidence, and with the failures come regret, repentance, and motivation to be courageous. I must. Because like the prophet Spencer W. Kimball said, "It is a greater compliment to be trusted than it is to be loved."

frog in the throat

The last couple of weeks, Stu has been making this growling voice. It sounds like he has a frog in his throat and it makes Jared and me laugh so hard. It sounds like he is playing a character and putting on a show for someone, but he does it when entertaining himself. In the end, he ends of entertaining us.

And check out this tongue!

Unruly hair

I tried. I really did. I combed his hair with a part and everything. His hair is meant to be wavy.

Month of Millers

For the past month my sister and her son have been living with us. :) Except for visits to our brother's house for a couple days at a time, we had these wonderful people around:

The cousins really enjoyed getting to know each other. There were lots of smiles when they were together. We're so happy to have family around. Thanks for learning and growing with us during this month, K & B. I hope we're all better for having spent this time together.

Too cool

Too cool for Dad's glasses....

Lent observance failure

My attempt to abstain from dairy has miserably failed. I did well for about a week. Then I had to try the brie and chutney. Then Jared and I had a get away weekend, and I had to try the Greek & Moroccan restaurant. That of course includes feta. Then there was the day I was on my way home from a friend's and had a long drive ahead of me. What better treat than a free junior frosty to tide me over? I didn't even THINK about there being dairy in it until Jared pointed it out much later. Duh.

Unfortunately, the same unwanted consequences followed my eating dairy products. My belly aches, my bowels ache, my head aches, my ears and throat ache, and my poor baby aches. He spits up more when I eat dairy. I really need to learn self control.

So, I here confess my sins and deepest failure in my attempt to give up something that I know is harming my body. The good news is that I am more self aware. Duly noted: I suck at abstaining from dairy...

Old McDonald had a....

... FARM!

This weekend we visited a farm in a neighboring town and really enjoyed ourselves. It was sheep shearing day, and that is what brought us there in the first place. However, the grass-fed local organic meat for sale didn't hurt either. Take a look:

Happy birds roaming free

Before the hair cut

And after ... That night must have been cold for the sheep.

In the distance is where the shearing took place

Tribute to Mom O.

It's easy to go on and on about my immediate family, but I have neglected someone very important. My mother-in-law deserves at least her own post! Jared, S and I also recently visited the Ondricek's and had a wonderful, relaxing time. This is the guy enjoying the snuggles and giggles of his sweet grandma O.

Here are just a few of her gifts off my never-ending list that this incredible woman has contributed to my life:

• encouragement to read out of the best books
• books that arrive in my mail all the time
• unwavering optimism
• laughs during the good and the bad
• example of a POWERHOUSE of a house keeper
• a lioness leader of the Gospel
• faith and belief in my abilities as mother and wife
• tears shed when she met her first grandson - a moment I will never forget
• welcoming me into a new family
• conservative, timeless values
• willingness to be unconventional and experimental
• teaching my husband to work hard
• never giving up on those who struggle
• the gift of quilting and sewing
• acting on every thought to lift and serve
• the gift of travel and adventure, no matter the inconvenience
• teaching her kids to prepare their own meals
• instilling a love of music in her children
• the need to improve and challenge oneself more
• educating her children in the importance of education
• patience in the face of insults and childishness
• the ability to conquer over all her foes and setbacks

Mom O: Here's to the trillion million more moments, memories, lessons, and laughs together. I look forward to eternity with you and your family!

Completely Green Salad

Wow. When it rains, it pours. (Much like this morning's weather in DC.) Today is the day to post everything I have ever wanted to blog about. What can I say? S's taking a nap. And it isn't over yet.

Normally I enjoy a more colorful salad, but today's lunch is an exclusively green salad: spring mix, romaine, green pepper, green onion, and avocado. I guess the dressing isn't all green: flax oil with white balsamic raspberry vinegar. Mmmm, mmmm. What did you have for lunch today? Something I should try?

Introducing..... (drum roll)

...Homemade baby food. This time: pureed organic carrots and filtered water. So delicious.

He seems to like them more than the avocado. But not as much as the banana he tried a couple days ago. I was going to give him just a lick of my own banana, and then it sort of became his.

"Getting to know you...

...getting to know all about you." Movie trivia? Anyone? That is from The King and I, which is a movie, yes, but was a play long before a movie. In fact, I was in the play at Tilden Middle School and played Tup Tim in eighth grade. I got the part because (according to the director) I was the only student who could hit those high notes. What high notes, you say? Look up the song "My Lord and Master" and you will see. It still amazes me that I ever performed that song. I couldn't do it for you now because my voice has changed. :)

Anyway... Getting to know my neighbors is the real subject of this post. Last week, Jared and I hosted an open house to get to know our neighbors since we are new to our community. We invited the 17 units closest to us, the apartment managers, the 5 Mormon families in the larger community, and the missionaries. The two full-time teaching missionaries of my church happen to also conveniently live in this complex. We prepared the following arrangement of snacks to lure them all here:

You're looking at crackers with brie & fig spread; hummus & pita chips; sliced peppers, carrots, green beans & ranch dip; and grapes, Clementines, & strawberries. The delicious brownies were brought by the Larson's. Thanks so much!!

Jared also made his mom's yummy peanut butter and chocolate bars, and they went real fast.

The event was a great success because all the church-going, Latter-day Saints came and we had a blast. So much fun eating, chatting, laughing and "getting to know you." But not a single soul from the other units came to even say hi. I even personally invited them and met some at their doors. Some said they would come, others told why they couldn't, and that also made it a success. I got to meet people at their own homes. I invited so many thinking I would be lucky if three people came, and we were EXTREMELY happy to have 19 friends from church come.

The next day the neighbors right next door stopped by and brought a balloon for the guy, and a plate of chocolate cake for us, apologizing they couldn't make it. We are so lucky to have the friendly neighbors and that our open house was a success!

Family Time

I have the most wonderful family:

a sweet sister and snuggly nephew...

...an inquisitive brother-in-law...

...and just about the cutest mom in the world. Can't you just SEE the fun in her face!?! She is especially wonderful when she puts on her grandma hat. Grandpa was there too, but didn't pose for the camera.

Not to mention the cutest baby boy. Yesterday yet another person said he is so cute he should be a model. Any suggestions on how to profit from his handsome face without selling our souls to the media? The only person missing to make this family visit perfect was the world's greatest dad and husband. We missed you Jared!!